Name Amelia Villa Died 1942 | Parents Adolfo Chopitea | |
María Amelia Chopitea Villa (20 March 1900 – 1942) was Bolivia's first female physician.
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Biography
Chopitea Villa was born in Potosí, Bolivia in 1900. Her parents were Adolfo Chopitea and Amelia Villa.
Career
After receiving a bachelor's degree, Chopitea Villa entered the College of Medicine at the University of Saint Francis Xavier in Sucre, Bolivia in 1919, becoming the first Bolivian woman to study medicine. Her doctoral thesis, Causas de la mortalidad infantil, advised by Professor Nicolas Ortíz Antelo, was approved on 25 June 1926. It focused on the high infant mortality rate of the time, and was Bolivia's first graduate study in the field of pediatrics.
Chopitea Villa went to Paris for further study, where she studied under numerous doctors and worked for several hospitals. In April 1929, she represented Bolivia at the Congress of the Association internationale des femmes-médecins (Medical Women's International Association) in Paris; she was the sole South American representative. She returned to Bolivia, where she became a prominent surgeon, specializing in gynecology and pediatrics. She established the Pabellon de Niños (Children's Ward) at the Oruro Hospital. The Bolivian government honoured her for her work.
She was also listed in the Spanish-language book Quién es quién en Bolivia (Who is Who in Bolivia), published in 1942, the year of her death. Her sister, Elia Chopitea, also studied medicine, becoming the second woman doctor in Bolivia.
Legacy
Chopitea Villa is one of the 999 women commemorated in the Heritage Floor as part of Judy Chicago's 1974–9 art installation The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum.